FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Heyward Smith -- 904-662-1514

April 7, 2009

TESTIMONY PROVIDED BEFORE TEXAS HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TO MOVE IF NOT DISBAND QUESTIONABLE TEXAS PUBLIC INTEGRITY UNIT

Attorney for Everglades Legal Foundation Cites Need for AG Oversight and End to Unchecked Prosecutorial Power to Austin Legislators

(AUSTIN) -- Yesterday, before the criminal procedure subcommittee of the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, Patrick Clerkin, counsel for Everglades Legal Foundation (www.evergladeslegal.org), provided compelling testimony raising serious questions about the constitutionality and ethical standards of the Travis County Texas Public Integrity Unit (TPIU). Specifically, Clerkin pointed to the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which the existence of the TPIU violates by harnessing unchecked statewide prosecutorial power in one county (Travis). This denies Texas citizens outside of Travis County their constitutional rights and sets a dangerous precedent for prosecutorial overreach and/or misconduct.

"The Texas Public Integrity Unit should, at minimum, be moved out of Travis County and under the oversight of the Texas Attorney General's Office for purposes of constitutionality and adequate checks and balances," Clerkin said. "Beyond this, the TPIU has pursued questionable cases historically, some of which after years in the system haven't been brought to trial and others which seemed highly political with scant evidence. This presents the appearance of a political organization unconstitutionally funded by millions of Texas taxpayer dollars where prosecutors can essentially run amok without consequence."

Everglades Legal Foundation Executive Director Heyward Smith echoed Clerkin's sentiments.

"We have studied the efforts and effects of the TPIU over many months," Smith said. "There have been clear abuses of power in the TPIU, to the point where one could reasonably argue that certain prosecutors essentially traded dismissals of indictments for millions of dollars in donations to their pet causes, possibly to later enrich themselves." Smith continued, "Today's testimony should be a wake-up call to all Texans that their tax dollars are funding an office which arrogantly does not respond to citizen Open Records requests, which can prosecute them but doesn't represent them, and which should be disbanded as an entity before greater unethical practices take place. We hope the Committee will take note of the abuses we've documented on the part of TPIU and act swiftly and decisively."

To reach Executive Director Heyward Smith, please call 904-662-1514.